by Starhawk
These farms are located upstream from me, so having one more organic farm means my watershed is a little bit safer from pesticide and fertilizer runoff. Knowing that I can make choices with my food budget that affect the web of life, and my own personal life, for the better is empowering and exciting. My own personal eating habits and my health were also impacted for the better by making this one, fairly small commitment.
Earth Meditation
This is the simplest, and deepest, earth meditation I know. Arrange for some undisturbed time, go outside, and create sacred space. (If you are in a public place, like a park, please take normal precautions for your safety.) Lie down on the earth. Relax, breathe deeply, feel gravity pulling you down, cradling you, and open all your senses to the earth beneath you. Simply rest in the fact of being utterly supported. She’s not going anywhere without you. Notice whatever images and emotions arise, and allow them to release on an easy breath. Say, “By the earth which is her body.” When you are finished, open the circle and go home. For a slightly different insight into earth, try the same meditation sitting with your back against the trunk of a tree. For the wild and the bold, try the same meditation, but climb up into the tree and find a good spot with your back against the trunk. Now you are a creature of earth!
We have followed Rose into the nettle patch, learning a new way to relate to the earth and her green people. We have learned the ethical principles behind spellcasting and how to cast a spell. We have begun a right relationship with the element earth. Now the story sweeps us along with it, to the next stage of our study of the elements of magic.
The Inner Path
Now Rose receives from the Fata Morgana the challenge she has been seeking. This challenge, should she successfully complete it, will fulfill her vow and return her brothers to human form. But just as the transformation of swans to men seems impossible, so do the requirements of her task. Why must she take on such a prolonged and difficult challenge? Why weaving? Why must she work with a plant that can hurt her? Why must she remain silent?
Those of us who walk the Inner Path can use this part of Rose’s story to make magic for our own life purposes and to gain the inner strength we need to meet the tasks we choose. We can look at how we each weave the fabric of human community when we speak and when we remain silent. We can ask why Rose must work with a plant that can sting her and what that might mean for us.
Finding Life Purpose
Rose learns from the Fata Morgana the details of her challenge. She gets specific instructions for how to cast a magic spell that can turn her swan brothers back into men. Rose already knew that her purpose was to break the spell that bound her brothers, restoring justice in her own life story and in her family line. Some of us may already be committed and purposeful, knowing just what we are meant to do with our lives. But others of us might be wondering what shirts we are supposed to be weaving. Those of us who are wondering may find some answers by trying Pomegranate Doyle’s life-purpose meditation.
Pomegranate Doyle is a Reclaiming Witch, priestess, and artist. She’s an ornery, funny Irish redhead who has found her life purpose in her art, her teaching, and her priestessing. Here is an exercise Pomegranate uses to help students find a sense of life purpose.
Pomegranate’s Life-Purpose Exercise
Either alone or with your friends, create sacred space, and use your breath to drop deep into your center. In memory, sweep over your life journey, and pick the five times when you had the most joy in your body from actively doing something. Pom says, “We are all on the planet for a reason, and you know when you’re engaged in it because of the joy you feel in your body. Your body will sing with it. You will have a sense of well-being. The joy is a signpost; it’s saying, ‘Yes! Go forward.’ When we go toward goals that do not create this feeling of joy, we are going down the wrong path. This is a sign saying Wrong Way. Of course, you must also know that when you move toward your fulfillment, you will feel fear. It’s a big adventure, and a little fear is what makes it an adventure.”
Go back to the five joyful experiences, and ask yourself what it was about these experiences that made them good for you. Take five index cards. On the top of each one, write down a few words that describe one of the experiences. Try to create a declarative sentence for each one—for instance: “I am a worshiper of the earth”; “I am a dancer”; “I am a gardener”; “I am a mathematician”; “I am a pudding eater.” Now you have five cards that represent five of your life’s passions. Now on each card write the four directions, with space in between to write—like this:
I am a pudding eater
EAST
SOUTH
WEST
NORTH
In meditation, visualize yourself performing one of your life’s passions, and as you do so, notice the quality of your thinking (east) while you are engaged in the activity. Is it fast and focused? Is it airy and open? How does it feel to you? Record your observations on the card under “East.” Now notice your energy (south). Is it hot and intense? Is it slow and even? Is it big or small or another way? Record your observations under “South.” Move your attention to your emotions (west). Are you soft, colorful, intense? Record under “West.” In the north, notice how your physical body feels. Are you fully embodied, aware, excited, tired? Record.
It is important to remain open throughout this exercise. Do not be tempted to judge your experiences. You are getting to know yourself as you are, not as what others have told you to be.
Go through the four directions for each card. Thank the directions, and return to normal consciousness. Now find the common themes and threads that connect these five experiences. For instance, you may notice your thinking focused, emotions blank, body active on one card, while on another you may see your thinking scattered, emotions intense, and energy running like a house on fire. Does it give you passion to have a multidimensional approach, with many different ways of thinking and feeling, or are you very focused and find yourself doing most things the same way? Remember not to judge. This is the story of you; it tells you what makes you happy and fulfilled. Spend a moment to think about your daily life. Does it fit the you that is reflected in the cards?
Take your cards and order your life’s passions in terms of how often you’re doing them now. How does your life look? Are you doing what you want as often as would fulfill you? As a magical act, arrange your passions in the order you would like them to be in. What needs to change to make the second list more like the first? How do your priorities help you to reach your goals, and how do they block them? In a group, you may ask for support or challenges to help you move the things that give you joy and passion forward in your life.
Trance to the Fata Morgana to Receive a Challenge
Set aside some undisturbed time so that you, or you and your circle, can take a trance journey to the Fata Morgana to receive a challenge. Create sacred space, and prepare yourselves for trance. Using your favorite induction, go to your personal place of power. Greet each of the directions, opening all your senses to what is here for you today.
Find your way to a mountainside. There is a cave here, with sleeping places made of soft plants and branches. Lie down, and go to sleep. As you sleep, dream your way to the castle of the Fata Morgana. The castle looks different to each of us. How is it for you? What do you see, hear, taste, feel? Move through its halls and doorways until you find the Dark Fairy herself. Again, she appears differently to each of us. How is it for you? Open all your senses to her. She has a vision to show you of how to achieve your life purpose. (Leave time here for each trancer to do her work.) Now, it’s time to complete anything that is still left undone. Say thank you and good-bye to the Dark Fairy. Return through the halls and doorways of her castle; begin to feel the call of your sleeping body in the mountainside cave. Allow yourself to return to it, to waken, and slowly, easily, rise up off the bed of soft plants and branches.
Make your way back to the center of your own place of power. Say thank you and go
od-bye to each of the directions, and reverse the induction. Take your time rousing yourself, pat your body all over, and say your name three times. In circle, you may wish to talk with your friends about your insights; if you are working alone, make some notes in your Book of Shadows. Eat, and share some informal time together, allowing yourself to come all the way back to your normal consciousness before opening the circle.
Compare the challenge you’ve received with the joyful activities you found in the previous exercise. Is there a connection?
Choosing to Do a Big Job
Rose knows what she has to do, but the task is awfully big. For Rose to harvest and prepare the nettles, work out the fibers, spin the thread, weave the cloth, and cut and sew the twelve shirts would take several years. Even for ancient women who were accustomed to this type of work and did it daily, this would sound like a big job.
Things that are worth doing are often very difficult. Having a child takes nine months, then it takes eighteen years, and then it takes the rest of your life. Perfecting an art form or learning to play an instrument may take years of work before the first really masterful experiences occur. Confronting intergenerational patterns of cruelty, shame, and pain in a family may take decades of patient and determined effort. Committing oneself to a struggle for social justice or to protecting the wild things may involve years of hard work that is sometimes difficult or frustrating. And even then the results may be hard to see. Planting an apple seedling means five or six years of watering, tending, and protecting the plant before the first ripe apple hangs on it, and then many more years of effort before the first full harvest.
So how is Rose going to manage? First of all, she has to be willing to say yes to the challenge. It takes great courage and inner strength to accept a challenge that will take years to fulfill. It takes tremendous self-confidence to commit to such a task, knowing that you may not succeed. And yet it is impossible to succeed without starting.
Rose is no longer an untried girl. She has already made tremendous progress on her own behalf. She has followed her intuition and asked the right questions. She has dared to leave the familiar castle. She has trusted herself to the wild and to guidance and followed the stream to the sea. She has endured her brothers’ anger and allowed its release. She has woven a basket strong enough to fly in, and she has fearlessly taken that breathtaking flight. She has all this experience to draw on, and so do we.
Answering a Challenge
Arrange for some undisturbed time, alone or with your circle. Cast a circle at your altar, invoke the powers, and light your candles. By now your Rose altar is beginning to be full of magic and full of meaning. There are the mysterious dreams, images, or sensations that began your questioning. The beauty of the lovely, fragrant roses is reflected in your mirror, along with the dancing candlelight. There are food offerings to the ones who guide you (they might want a bite of your snack, too). There is a bit of ash from the fire where you released your “wicked vows” and touched the deep center of your own enduring fire. There is a bit of homemade basket, and your drums or music, yoga mats or meditation cushions, your commitment to ecstatic practice. The spell of the Twelve Wild Swans is building.
Take a moment for meditation, here in sacred space you have created for yourselves, here amid the magic of your commitment to your inner work. Breath deeply, and let your awareness drop into your own centers. Be aware that you have already come a long way, that you have already shown courage, inner strength, creativity, willingness, and love. Know that you can count on yourselves. Give yourselves credit for the challenges you have already met; know yourselves to be profoundly capable. Take some time to raise energy, chanting, drumming, breathing, moving—whatever works for you. In circle, you may wish to take turns coming to the center of the circle. Each person may receive praise and blessings honoring her efforts so far. Each circle sister may give her a kiss: “Thou art Goddess.”
Now return to the five joyful experiences you worked with in the life-purpose exercise described earlier. Remember the challenges that the Fata Morgana offered each of you. What would you have to do in order to bring your true life purposes forward in your life? What changes would you have to make, what would you have to let go of to make room for your true life purposes? Ask yourself if you want to take the challenge to make these changes. You can say yes, or no. Or you may also have another answer right now, one that is right for you, such as “After Megan starts kindergarten” or “After my hip surgery.” You may wish to speak out loud the changes that you wish to make, so your circle sisters can be witnesses for you.
When everyone has had a turn to speak, eat and visit together, and open the circle only when you are ready. Know that challenges will come into your life. Sometimes the toughest challenge is actually doing the things you love to do, the things that bring you joy. When challenges come, you have what it takes to say yes, if you want to. You can also say no or “Not now.” It’s up to you.
Green Nettle Magic
So Rose is ready, and so are we. She says yes to the challenge of the nettle weaving. What are we to learn from her task? What is the Fata Morgana trying to teach us? First, let’s take a look at some of the traditional magical and medicinal lore surrounding nettles. For Witches, all plants (as well as all animals, stones, stars, and so forth) have their own spirit powers and magical purposes, which can be discovered either by studying the traditional lore or just by studying and working with and caring for the plant. This is how the traditional sources developed their wisdom: by direct experience and observation.
Now, the herbalists’ lore about nettles will tell us that although Rose may have plenty of difficulties as she completes her arduous task in the wild, she will not be weak or hungry. Nettles are an incredibly nourishing food, used by women for thousands of years because of their high mineral content and their ability to strengthen the adrenal system—seat of the will. The nettles, trying and painful as they may be, will also give Rose the strength she needs to meet the challenge they present. They will nourish her deeply, with a wild green strength, in a way we have almost forgotten that food can nourish us.
Nettles also have the traditional magical association of breaking curses and of sending negative magic back where it came from. This is no surprise, since nettles are extremely well defended. They definitely have the property of sending unwary intruders back wherever they came from. In this case, Rose’s nettles will be part of a spell breaking the negative effects of her mother’s ill wish that her twelve boys be exchanged for a girl.
And for the cautious and skillful harvester, nettles also offer the quality of inner strength, both because they are so nourishing and because their tough stems are held up by fibers that are considered to be among the strongest in the plant world. Once these shirts are made, they will definitely be sturdy.
Now, any woman who commits herself to attempting difficult challenges will need what the nettle has to offer. Perhaps you are already engaged in meaningful and challenging projects. Maybe you are considering taking some on, and the life-purpose exercise described earlier gave you some encouragement. Whether your projects are directed inward—at self-healing, self-knowledge, and self-love—or outward toward creative expression and responsible action, how will you nourish yourself? How can you gain the needed strength and energy, the strong fiber, the powerful self-defense to achieve your goals?
Nettle Magic: Nourishment
We have fed the powers that be, and now it is time to allow ourselves to be fed. You will need a favorite plate or bowl. Bring it with you to your altar, and alone or with your circle create sacred space, and light your candles. Place the bowls or plates on the altar, and ask the help of the powers; ask them to help you fill your bowl with the foods that will truly nourish you. Sing songs for them, dance for them, open your heart to them, and tell them your true need. Then let yourself sink into a light trance. Close your eyes, and let your inner vision open, knowing that the powers will fill your bowl with exactly what you need t
he most. What is that wondrous food in your bowl? Smell and taste, look and feel with your inner senses. When you have an impression or intuition, tell yourself that you will remember it, and allow yourself to return to normal consciousness.
You may have only a clue—an impression of color, or aroma, or texture. In this case, a trip to a good grocery store may prod your memory, and you may recognize the food from your trance. Or you may have received specific directions on exactly what to eat. In any case, it’s a good idea to actually try the food, unless it’s something that would be unhealthy for you, in which case further negotiations are needed.
But go ahead and take this insight a step further. What does this food mean to you? If it’s chicken soup, does that mean you would be nourished by mothering energy from an older woman? If it’s mushrooms, does that mean more walks in the greenwood? If it’s kid food, is there a way for you to feed your heart and soul by being around the lovely, zesty energy of kids? Younger Self knows what we need to feed our deepest hungers: food and herbs, fun, love, and heartsease. If we ask for guidance and listen with an open mind, we will find all the clues we need to take excellent care of ourselves, to strengthen the fiber of our health and energy, so that we can do the difficult, long-term, committed, creative tasks that life asks of us and that we long to do.
Nettle Magic: Strong Fiber of Soul
Have you ever noticed how time flies when you are doing something you love? For me, it’s gardening. I can start weeding, pruning, and reshaping a perennial border, and before I know it, it’s getting dark. This still happens to me just as it did when I first started gardening professionally, fifteen years ago. I also lose my sense of time when I’m dancing to good drumming, or reading my tarot cards, or meditating. I hit a zone, and fifteen minutes or three hours later, when I rouse myself, my feet are all pins and needles from sitting cross-legged, or I’m breathless from dancing.
